


Ave Verum Corpus

by Ptolomeia



Series: Janus and the Technicolour Keyring [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Mentions of King!Creativity, Post episode DWIT, Pre Humility's a Sin, mentions of remus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28385004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ptolomeia/pseuds/Ptolomeia
Summary: Roman goes to confront Remus after the events of Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts.When he hears his brother singing, though, he is forced to reflect and remember.Or, a scene explaining why Roman might trust Remus with the Imagination in Humility's a Sin
Series: Janus and the Technicolour Keyring [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064096
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19
Collections: TSS Fanworks Collective





	Ave Verum Corpus

**Author's Note:**

> Translation from the original latin found on the Emmanuel Music website here: http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_motets/t_mozart_ave.htm

**Ave verum corpus,  
Natum de Maria virgine;  
Vere passum immolatum  
In crucis pro homine.  
Cuius latus perforatum  
Unda fluxit et sanguine.  
Esto nobis praegustatum  
In mortis examine.**  
  
---  
  
**Hail, true body,**

**Born of the virgin Mary;**

**Who has truly suffered, slaughtered**

**On the Cross for humanity.**

**Whose side was pierced,**

**Pouring out water and blood.**

**Be a foretaste for us**

**During our ordeal of death.**

It was the singing that stopped him.

Roman had traveled down into the dark (both literally and figuratively, thank you Logan) of the Subconscious bristling for a fight. Remus had been asking for one, knocking Roman out and tormenting Thomas like that. Honestly, what had Janus been thinking, letting Remus out in the first place?!

Roman had been so caught up his anger that he hadn’t registered what he was hearing, not at first. But eventually his brain managed to get him to realize that what he was hearing was _important_.

From somewhere in the mess down here, hidden from sight but clearly heard, Remus was singing.

“…Verum Corpus,” Remus sang, clear and bright and sad, and it brought Roman to his knees.

They’d learned the song in church. Thomas had been given the harmony, even back then, before his voice had broken, back when they’d still been Mars, but Mars had picked up the Melody just as quickly. After all, the melody was what people remembered. The melody could be sung by itself and still sound complete.

Mars had sung in harmony with himself—one of the perks of being imaginary, vocal chords didn’t have to obey physics. The mouth movements were a little more complicated, but that was part of why Mars had loved the song. In Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus, all the words were sung together, only the notes changing between the two lines.

Mars had known the trick of it. Roman had never been able to figure it out.

“Vere passum immolatum”

Roman still knew the melody, after all these years. It was one that Thomas could break out at Christmas or Easter, Weddings or Funerals. It was simple, pure, clear (it _was_ Mozart after all). He and Thomas had moved people to tears with it before.

Now he understood why.

“Unda fluxit et sanguine”

Remus remembered the harmony. It didn’t sound right, by itself. It was a complement, a foundation, and added layer of complexity, and Remus was singing it alone.

It was pitch perfect, and flowed simply from one note to the next. Though the song called out to be completed, the singer expected no reply.

Roman knew how much practice it took to perfect a song like that, especially considering that it wasn’t Remus’s usual style.

How many times had his brother sung it, alone in the dark?

Had he ever tried to figure out Mars’s trick as well?

How many years had it been since anyone had listened?

“In Mortis Examine”

The piece ends in a unison, both lines coming together for the final note, if there are two singers.

When singing the melody, the line dips, coming to it’s natural conclusion. A statement that the song is over. Marvel while the accompaniment finishes and then applaud.

But the harmony? The last interval of the the harmony went up, a question the melody was meant to answer.

In the silence left by the end of the note, there was no reply.

Even if he’d wanted to, Roman couldn’t have. The tears streaming down his face made it impossible to sing.


End file.
